Juliana, the people's Queen of the Netherlands who helped the country and its citizens recover from World War II and oversaw the independence of the remaining colonies, died yesterday at the age of 94.
The state information service said she died of a lung infection at 5:50am in the Soestdijk palace where she had lived most of her long life.
Three of her four daughters, including Queen Beatrix, were present when she died and the fourth landed shortly afterwards from the US. Crown-prince Willem Alexander is returning from holidays in Austria.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in a televised speech that Juliana, who reigned for 32 years from 1948, had been a Queen "for the people and not for the directors" and had said she would have wanted to be a social worker if she had not become Queen.
"Together with Prince Bernhard, she worked for the reconstruction of our country after World War II. Supported by her religion, she was an indefatigable campaigner for solidarity, community spirit and human dignity," he said.
"With the horrors of war still on her mind, she was a warm supporter of increasing cooperation between European nations," he added. Flags were lowered at Dutch official buildings until her burial and mourners began gathering in the rain outside the palace. The date for the funeral has not yet been set.
Juliana was much loved in the Netherlands. It is her birthday, on April 30, that is still celebrated as the Dutch Queen's Day holiday.
The shy and soft-spoken Juliana ascended to the throne in 1948 and soon captured hearts both at home and abroad as she strove to bring the royal family closer to the people. The royal family spent the war time in Canada.
The "bicycling monarch" shopped at her local supermarket and sent her children to state school. Her popularity prompted the labor party to drop its demand to turn the country into a republic.
Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina was born in the Hague, the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik.
Juliana was not seen in public in recent years. Her health had worsened after breaking her hip in a fall at a friend's house in April, 1998. She suffered some loss of memory and was "confused."
Since then she has needed round-the-clock medical care. In 2001, Bernhard announced Juliana had lost practically all her memory.
During her last public appearance, at the wedding of her grandson Prince Maurits and Marilene van den Broek in May, 1998, she looked weak and was not keen to have her picture taken.
But even then, Juliana -- a devout Protestant -- caused an uproar in the press after taking Roman Catholic holy communion.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS